Queen for a Day - Princes of the Universe

The ONLY other song on this record that sounds remotely like a QUEEN song (Aside from "One Vision") is the sole Mercury offering.

Weird that, isn't it? Freddie used to account for most of the songs or the lion's share and here he is, down to one solo track.

And it's a big one. A "Tear it Up", gothic metal, soaring vocals, multi layered harmony, barn burner.

Shifting tempos during what could only be considered the chorus, it abruptly stops and goes back to the original tempo before it reminds us, briefly of "The Prophet's Song" and then dredges it's own energy back up to Mark III Queen sound giving Brian REAL time to shred. And shred he does. The only thing that can stop him is the big layered vocals that restart the entire song.

It's breathless, confused, odd, huge and may as well be the "Seven Seas of Rhye" of Latter Day Queen.

It's not great, but in comparison to the rest of the record it's brilliant. It's more of a pastiche of ideas than a real song, per se, but it'll do. In a way, it's as though Freddie listened to the crapola like "Gimme the Prize" and "Don't Lose Your Head" and said, "Hey. Lemme show you how it's done, girls."

So, that makes it a real treat.

Grade: B+